Storefront Beautification Lehigh Acres, Florida Prepared for: Lee County Community Redevelopment Agency and its Lehigh Acres Local Redevelopment Planning Committee P.O. Box 398 Fort Myers, Florida 33902 941.335.2510 October 18, 1997

TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Consultants 3

Introduction 4 Previous Work Existing Architectural Styles Approach

Building Style & Detailing 6

Building Facades 7

Roof Treatments 8

Fences & Porches 9

Architectural Signage 10

Building Mass & Color 11

Parking Lots 12

Architectural Solutions 13 Case Study One

Architectural Solutions 16 Case Study Two

Architectural Solutions 19 Case Study Three

Site Planning Solutions 22 Case Study

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List of Consultants

Sponsor

Lee County Community Redevelopment Agency and its Lehigh Acres Local Redevelopment Planning Committee P.O. Box 398 Fort Myers, Florida 33901 O: 941.335.2510 F: 941.335.2124 Coordinating Consultant Lehigh Acres Commercial Land Use Study Mr. Bill Spikowski Spikowski Planning Associates 1617 Hendry Street, Suite 307 Fort Myers, Florida 33901 O: 941.334.8866 F: 941.334.8878 Design Consultant Mr. Michael T. Redd, president Mr. Patrick Cunningham, project manager Team Plan, Inc. 631 U.S. Highway One, Suite 300 North Palm Beach, Florida 33408 O: 561.863.2500 F: 561.863.2505

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Introduction The purpose of this study is to encourage healthy commercial redevelopment in Lehigh Acres. The focus is on the original downtown along Homestead Road and the adjacent area along Lee Boulevard and Leeland Heights Boulevard. This report is not a mandatory building or zoning code. It is a tool to assist commercial property owners of Lehigh Acres in developing, redeveloping, and rehabilitating in a manner consistent with, and reinforcing, traditional local styles of architecture. The sketches show a variety or approaches to improving actual commercial buildings in Lehigh Acres, using design themes equally appropriate to new buildings. Previous Work The Lehigh Acres CRA program is guided by its Local Redevelopment Planning Committee. A subcommittee produced a preliminary community beautification plan that articulated design themes to unify the disparate resources of Lehigh Acres, using entry features, a common landscape palette, and aesthetically pleasing signage. This report expands on that effort to include architectural themes for storefronts.

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Existing Architectural Styles Upon the genesis of this study, several members of the community redevelopment planning committee helped select buildings that were typical of existing development in the Lehigh Acres commercial core. By focusing this report on potential improvements to those typical buildings, other property owners can visualize the effects of these architectural themes on their buildings as well. Approach The design team photographed the subject properties and many other commercial buildings throughout Lehigh Acres to identify a representative range of architectural styles and building conditions. Photos of the subject properties are included in this report to illustrate existing conditions and contrast them with sketches of the potential improvements. Three case studies of building facades are presented, each with two different ideas as to how an owner might improve them. A fourth case study examines how a compound of separate buildings could be unified, including design options for landscaping, signage, fencing, walls, parking, and pedestrian circulation. A variety of appropriate architectural elements are also presented to suggest desirable methods of establishing a cohesive palette of materials, elements, and design.

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